Chemical Imbalance: Extras
by Jaden Silver
Summary: Extra scenes from within the Chemical Imbalance universe.
1. Chapter 1

**So, I've been debating doing this for a while now. Basically, while I've been writing Chemical Imbalance, I've been on and off writing little scenes from Project Imbalance. Most of it is just training exercises and showing what it was like growing up in the Project. It's helped me work out personalities and the dynamics between characters for my OCs. I'm going to leave this as incomplete, even though I don't know if I'll ever post something else here again. It'll just be if something pops into my head that I think will better explain the characters.**

**Anyway, this particular chapter is about Silver and Manganese (Maine) when they were kids. Ages are listed, as they will be for any other chapters in this series. Let me know if you think this is a good idea or if you want this to continue.**

* * *

The Best Brother

Silver: age 6. Manny: age 12.

I stare around at the darkness, listening to the constant beeping of the machines. I'm afraid. The surgery is over, but mom said she didn't know if I'll survive. She said we have to wait until morning to know for sure. I'm scared. I don't want to die. I watched the others and I don't want to die like that.

I jump when I hear a noise outside the door. It slides open slowly, and all I can see is a dark silhouette facing me. At first I'm scared, then the scent drifts my way and I recognize it immediately. "Manny" I whisper, holding my arms out.

The older boy closes the door behind him quietly before walking toward me. When he reaches the bed, he scoops me up and sits cross-legged, placing me in his lap and wrapping his arms around me. He had been keeping his distance all day; mom had gotten mad at him for skipping training sessions to spend time with me. But now she was in her lab working, too focused to notice if he snuck out of his room to come visit. He brushes some white strands of hair out of my face, holding me silently. After a while he whispers "it's going to be okay."

I shake my head, then bury my face in his chest as the tears begin to flow. It won't be okay. It wasn't for any of the others. It won't be for me. I cry harder, soft choking sounds escaping my throat as I try to hold it in. Manny rocks me back and forth slightly. "It'll be okay" he repeats.

"No it won't" I say between sobs.

"Yes, it will" he tries to reassure me.

"You don't know that" I say, shaking my head again. "You can't know that for sure."

"Yes, I do" he says. Even though he tries to hide it, I can hear the desperation in his voice. "I know you'll make it. You have to. You won't die."

"How?" I ask. "How can you know that?"

Manny pushes me back slightly so I can see his face. Even in the dim lighting I can see his big, sad smile. "You're stronger than them" he says after a moment. "You're too strong to die like this. There's so much more ahead for you."

"I'm not strong," I whisper, shaking my head. "Not like you."

"You're stronger than you realize" Manny says. He looks me in the eyes as he speaks. "You're small, but you're tough. You're strong on the inside and that's where it matters. That's how I know you're going to be fine."

His voice is deep and raspy, but comforting. I still don't believe what he says, but I can tell he does, and that helps. I hug him tighter. "Please don't go" I ask. I know he should go back to his room soon, and that he'll get in trouble if mom discovers that he snuck out, but I'm cared. I don't want to be alone. I don't want to die alone.

"I'll stay" Manny says, kissing the top of my head lightly.

"Promise you won't go."

"I promise" Manny says. "I won't ever leave you, Silver."

I smile and close my eyes. I have the best brother in the world.


	2. Chapter 2

**This one's set just after Maine and Caboose were taken to Project Freelancer and Silver is still settling in with her new team. This would make her about 23, and Nick and Tinu are 17.**

* * *

Sniper Training

I sling the sniper rifle over my shoulder a little harder than intended, nearly smacking the side of my face. A few strands of hair hang in front of my eyes and I blow a puff of air toward them. The hair flies up and dances over my forehead for a second before settling back in front of my eyes. I growl slightly in frustration and reach up to roughly tuck the hair behind my ear.

"That hair still giving you a hard time?" a jovial voice calls from behind me.

I turn to face the taller boy. The scowl slowly fades from my face in light of his easy smile. "I swear, one of these days I'm just going to cut it all off" I answer.

"Oh, don't do that!" Tinu says from behind her partner, panic in her voice. "Your hair looks so pretty."

"Oh, please" I say, rolling my eyes. "It's bleach white. Makes me look like an old woman." I freeze as the words leave my lips. My eyes drift to Nick, years younger than me and yet somehow looking much older. I've never had the courage to ask him how he feels about the accelerated aging. I know I hate the idea that he has so much less time to live than the rest of us, but I don't know if it bothers him or not. I'm worried that my old woman comment will upset him.

Nick's smile grows even wider, if that's even possible. "Good. Now I'm not the only one who looks like I belong in a nursing home."

"You're not that old" Tinu says seriously, an uncharacteristic frown forming on her lips.

"Not _yet_" Nick corrects her. "Just you wait. In a few years, I'll be charging into battle in a wheelchair."

Tinu's eyes suddenly widen. "Oh. My. Gosh!" She says slowly, voice pitching higher on the last word. "You're going to lose all your hair! You have to let me style it again while you still have the chance."

"No no no" Nick says, backing away and holding out his hands defensively. "Never again. Not after last time."

"But you looked so cute" Tinu pouts.

"I did not look cute, I looked ridiculous" Nick counters.

Tinu folds her arms. "I think cornrows were a good look for you."

"They most certainly were not." Nick's hands are still raised, as though he expects he'll need to fend Tinu off to prevent more hair fiascos.

"Fine" Tinu finally says grumpily. "But one of these days you're going to give in, and me and my flat iron will be ready!" She then storms out of the training room.

I watch her leave before glancing at Nick. "You know, if we could redirect her passion for fashion toward combat training, she could probably kick all our butts."

Nick laughs briefly. "Was that on purpose?"

"Was what on purpose?"

"Passion for fashion" he repeats, emphasizing the rhyme.

I think about it for a second, then shake my head. "But Tinu would love it."

"That she would," Nick agrees. He looks at the rifle still balanced on my shoulder and reaches for it. "Now, let's see if I can help you with that aiming problem."


	3. Chapter 3

**This is directly connected to chapter 55 of Chemical Imbalance. Please read that first to avoid spoilers.**

* * *

For a Moment

For a moment, I feel like a little girl again. Except this time it's Rhodi standing in front of me, holding a few papers that seem too frail to hold such weighty news. In my mind's eye, I see mom in his place. I hear her voice telling me that one of my sisters has died, and that all of us are sick, and it's only a matter of time until we begin showing symptoms. The same fear from all those years ago seeps into my chest and the blood rushing in my ears is so loud I can't hear what Rhodi says next. I stare straight through his chest and through the wall and into the furthest reaches of space, letting my mind wander away in the hopes of finding someplace less awful.

Two strong hands land on my shoulders and my mind snaps back into focus. I look back to see Nick and Tinu standing behind me. Tears are already falling from Tinu's eyes and she has a hand over her mouth to try and hide her crying. Nick's face is unmoving and unreadable, except for his eyes, which betray every emotion he's feeling right now. I try to follow his example, try to hide my fear and put on a brave face for everyone. I'm the leader here. I don't get the luxury of being sad.

* * *

For a moment, I can't believe my eyes. I check the test results again and again, even have Rho double check that I've interpreted it right. Unfortunately, I'm not mistaken. Silver is sick.

Part of me doesn't want to tell her. She's already been through so much lately. It's not fair that she'll have to have this weighing on her mind as well. It's not fair that she has to suffer through this, after already surviving so much. It's not fair, that after already losing so many people, we're going to lose her too.

* * *

For a moment, it's like the whole world shatters. Fierce denial sweeps through me. This can't be real. It can't be happening. She can't be dying. Silver is too strong and too brave to ever die. It's not possible.

Of course, the denial only lasts a few seconds. Once it's gone there's nothing to shield me from the sorrow. I don't want to lose her. I can't. I don't know what any of us will do without her. She's our rock of stability, our leader, the one person we've been able to rely on and who has been able to get us through our darkest times. Without her, we'll be lost. Without her, I don't know what I'll do. She's my big sister.

* * *

For a moment, I think my heart has stopped. I have a strange, terrible feeling of déjà vu, my mind returning to the day mom first told me all the implications of my accelerated aging. Except this is much, much worse. Rhodi's saying Silver has maybe a year, though it's hard to tell how the sickness will progress. All I can think is how little time that is. There are so many things she'll never get to do. The life she's been working to provide for the rest of us, freedom from the UNSC, a real home; she'll never have any of these things. It's not fair.

I want to do… something. Make it better or scream in rage or tell her it'll be okay. But I can't. Nothing I can do will fix this, Screaming won't help anything, and Siler doesn't appreciate being lied to. Instead, I place my hands on her shoulders, hoping to lend her strength, telling her that no matter what I'm still here with her, just like she did for me all those years ago. She turns back to look at me and her face changes. She's being strong for us once again.

* * *

For a moment, I wonder what kind of trick this is. We're in the middle of a negotiation. Why would she fake a weakness now, of all times? That's when it hits me. She isn't faking. The pieces begin to fit together, each symptom adding up until I recognize exactly what this is. It's the same as when she was a kid. Only it appears as though the sickness has progressed much further this time. She must have been fighting this for a while, probably doesn't have much more time left.

Unless I help her, of course. Suddenly, I know how I'll be getting out of here, and I smile with the knowledge. She's always been afraid of death, ever since she was a little girl. It'll only be a matter of time until she's desperate enough to make a deal.


	4. The Life of The Party

**This is something I've been wanting to do for a while, and I finally had the opportunity thanks to the help of my wonderful friend lilfoxkit. I'm garbage at writing long oneshots, so I really couldn't have done this without him. Anyway, you'll catch on pretty quick what the story itself is about, so I'll just give you the basics. This is set before any of the Imabalancers get sent to project Freelancer, and long before the thoughts of AIs and control chips enter their minds. The ages are as follows: Manganese - 28, Silver - 21, Tinu and Nick's batch - 15, Rhodium and Iodine's batch - 8, and the kids (Lico, Rubi, Franc, and Tungsten) - 4. **

**Well, I think that's all you really need to know, so without further adieux, let me present the story.**

* * *

**The Life of The Party**

"Niiiiick," Tinu groaned from the foot of her brother's bed. "I'm sooooo bored!"

Nick sighed without glancing up from his holo-pad. Tinu had been pacing restlessly in their room for the past twenty minutes, and his usual patience felt like it was wearing thin. "Why don't you go read something?" he suggested.

"Already did," the teenage girl said. "Finished it. Bored now."

"Well, why don't you go count the cracks in the wall?" He suggested in a playful manner before putting his face back in front of his book; his enjoyment however, was short lived due to the body that thrust itself onto his lap and promptly ripped the book out of his hands. "Ooaf!" He said with a grunt. A few years ago he wouldn't have even been phased by Tinu jumping on him, but he just wasn't as resilient anymore. It took him a few moments to recover from the impact.

"What'cha reading?" she asked, attempting to read what turned out to not be English words, and was therefore illegible to her.

"It's an ancient Chinese piece on the nature of war," he answered, snatching the device back. "Look, if you're bored, why not just download another book or a movie or something?" he asked impatiently. He'd really been getting into his book before she'd interrupted.

"That's boring," Tinu said. "We're boring. All of this is boring. I want to DO something."

"Well then what do you propose we do?" He asked in an annoyed tone as he started reading his book again, only to have it snatched away once more.

"Have you ever heard of a party?" Tinu asked seriously.

Nick rolled his eyes. "I'm not an idiot, so the answer is yes, Tinu. I have heard of parties. I am aware of what they are. But seeing as how they require more than four people, we cannot have a party."

"But they sound like so much fun," the blonde pouted. "You get to meet people and hang out and talk." The way she spoke would have convinced anyone she was trying to describe paradise, voice reverent and wondering.

"Except, as I said, you need more people than we have," Nick repeated. "There's just you and me, and occasionally Gold and Boron. And we spend plenty of time together."

Tinu gave out an audible sigh, sounding more disappointed with every breath. However as quickly as her melancholy assembled, it vanished as an idea arose in her brain. "What if we play telephone with the others?" She asked in a hopeful voice. Upon receiving a rather inquisitive look from her partner, she felt the need to explain more. "Like, what if we told Gold and Boron and then they told someone else and they tell someone else until everyone knows."

Nickel gave this thought process a genuine amount of time before delivering his answer. "No."

"But Niiiiiick!" Tinu whined. "It would be so much fun."

"Yes, I'm sure whatever punishment mom would give us when we got caught would just be tons of fun," Nick agreed sarcastically.

"We wouldn't get caught," Tinu said quickly. "We can plan it out for one of the weeks mom's gone. You know how she disappears sometimes for meetings and stuff. We could just have the party then. She'll never find out."

"Uh huh, and what about her teacher's pet?" he asked, referring to one of their siblings that he constantly saw with Dr. Han.

"Still angry about that last training session?" Tinu asked teasingly.

"Silver cheated!" Nick snapped. "And then I finally got a good hit in and Manganese smashed my head into a stone pillar!"

"Being better than you isn't the same as cheating," Tinu said airily. "Anyway, I don't think she'll give us a problem. That last checkup I had she and I talked a bit. She said she wished we could all know each other better, outside of training. I think she'd like the plan."

"Well..." He said, thinking the situation over for a moment, having discarded his book to the bed-side table while half attempting to push his partner off his lap; the girl however, didn't seem to inclined to leave causing the male to give up eventually. "Alright, but we have to keep this as secret as possible. Mom can't know."

His agreement seemed to cause a great amount of excitement in the teen's eyes, though she managed to restrain herself due to still being on his lap. She acted reckless sometimes, but she was more than aware of how frail Nick was growing.

Tinu rolled off the side of the bed, performing an acrobatic spring back to her feet before vaulting up to her own bunk. "This is going to be perfect!" she squealed. "We're going to need decorations, and some snacks, and music..."

Nick sighed as she continued listing off items. Truth be told, he did like the idea of meeting the rest of their siblings. He thought he might grow to like some of them if they were in a scenario that didn't involve punching each other in the face. He just wasn't sure if the others would be as open to the idea. He didn't want Tinu to get disappointed if things didn't work out.

"You know what we'd really need?" He said, trying to do his best to hide the concern in his voice. "We need a movie."

"Why?" She asked in a confused tone.

"Well it's something people tend to do at parties," he said, though it was a half lie. He honestly didn't know what people did at parties, since his only experience with the outside world was though books and a few training videos mom had shown them, and none of those had featured the social side of humanity.

"As long as it isn't one of those boring ones where the people were too poor to afford colors," Tinu said as a condition.

Nick tried not to laugh at the comment. He failed miserably. "They weren't 'too poor' to afford colors in the movies," he tried to explain. "The technology didn't exist for color film back then."

"Still boring," Tinu insisted. "And ugly. If we have a movie, I want it to be something flashy and fun."

"I see no problem with movies lacking color, as a matter a fact for almost a century after movies started using color, many of them lost their detail and became too trashy to watch." Nick replied while shooting her a light smile.

"I don't want an old movie," Tinu insisted. "I want something new, like normal kids our age would watch."

"Well, there are a few documentaries about the war that look fascinating," Nick began, thinking back to what movies he'd been considering downloading lately.

"Kids, Nick," Tinu repeated. "Kids don't watch documentaries; they watch romances or action movies. And since I know you and Gold would find a way to destroy it if I made us watch a romance, I propose an action movie."

"We'll see, but you have to find it and run it by my approval." He said, furthering the timeline he had for the party to be planned out completely.

"But Niiiiccckkkkk that's not fair!"

"If you want everyone to show up, you need to make sure it's something they'll all enjoy," Nick insisted. "And since you view everything through a filter of clothing and hair styles, I need to double check what you come up with."

"Fine," she sighed dramatically. "But we should pick a date first. You know I'll go way over the top if I have too much time to plan this," Tinu said in a rare moment of self awareness. "We need a time limit."

"How about three days from now to the day?" he suggested. In truth it was a little less time that he'd like to plan this out, but he wasn't going to complain. Time wasn't exactly something he could afford to waste.

"Will mom be gone then?" Tinu asked.

"Mm-hmm," Nick hummed tiredly. It was long past curfew and even though they were allowed to stay up as long as they wanted provided they stayed in their rooms, he was ready to sleep. "I checked her schedule last week. She's supposed to be gone for a few days to help with an experiment for some other project."

"How'd you do that?" She asked in a confused tone.

"I may have snuck into her office and borrowed her personal holo-pad," Nick admitted, drawing out some of the words. "The book I wanted was blocked from mine, so I had to get hers to transfer it over."

"Nick!" Tinu yelled in admonishment, horrified that her partner would do something so idiotic despite her own plans. Getting caught inside Dr. Han's office when uninvited was strictly against the rules. The realization came to her that if Mom had found out about Nick downloading the book, then his punishment would be sever to both of them.

"Well, it's not as bad as what you're talking about." He replied in a teasing manner before reaching out to pick up his story again. The moment he touched it, however, a small alarm went off, indicating that someone was coming into their quarters.

Tinu's eyes widened in panic, sure they'd been caught. She reached down from her bed toward Nick, frantically trying to take his holo-pad so she could hide it. Nick stood and calmly slid the device behind their shared dresser, the screen lying flatly against the wall. Moving his attention over to the door, he quietly watched it open up to reveal a rather tall male with a calm expression grazing his face.

"Oh, Gold, it's you," Tinu sighed dramatically. "I was afraid it might be mom. We'd have been so dead!"

The blonde boy rolled his eyes. "I take it you're up to no good then," he guessed with a smile.

"Who, me?" Tinu asked with false confusion. "What would make you say that? Everyone knows I'm the picture of innocence."

"Say's the little girl who put pink hair dye in Mom's shampoo and got everyone on the compound punished," he replied before quietly making his way into the room, the gray mechanical door closing quietly behind him. Looking around, he let out a small sigh, sitting down on Nickel's bed. "So," he continued. "I just came by to tell you guys goodnight and get some rest, we have a bit of a longer training session tomorrow."

_Please don't be Manny's team, please don't be Manny's team, please don't be Manny's team_, Nick thought fervently, the bruise on his shoulder twingeing slightly at the mere thought of facing off with the behemoth again.

"It's Manganese's team," Gold continued. "Tinu, this time I want you to try to handle Manny while I take Silver. Nick, you've got Carbon, and Boron will deal with Neon."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Tinu asked uncertainly.

"You're the only one even close to matching his strength," Gold explained. "You're also faster than him, and much more agile. You should be able to at least keep him distracted."

"Great," Nick said with a sigh. He didn't have to deal with the inhuman tank-on-legs that was their oldest brother, but his slightly smaller double. Sure, Carbon was a nice enough guy, kinda slow and extremely strong, but Nick still didn't look forward to fighting him. "I trade a raging bull for super strength."

"At least you can outsmart your guy," Tinu said grumpily. "I can't out strong Manny. And what if he messes with my hair again? What then, Nick?"

"Then maybe you'll listen to me and cut it to a more practical length," Nick offered.

Tinu gave her brother a look of horror at the very suggestion while she held her long, carefully kept blonde hair in her hands. She been known to spend hours at a time simply brushing it and using various hair products she had managed to procure from around the base. Nick had no clue how she got them nor where she hid them when she needed to, but she held her looks with a high regard just as she did with their clothing. Whenever Mom got them a new set of clothes, Tinu made sure to augment it with various chemicals and scraps from the units she kept.

Nick had heard a rumor that mom gave their outgrown clothing to some of their younger siblings, though he wasn't sure if this was true or if they even had younger siblings. It didn't matter much though, considering Tinu's current plan of action was to get them all grouped together when Mom was gone. He was excited to have the question answered once and for all. He was also worried, however. If there really were young children, they might not understand about keeping the party a secret, and if mom found out they'd all get in trouble. He chewed his lip worriedly as this and more possible problems filtered through his head.

"Hey, you okay?" Gold asked, snapping his fingers in front of the older males face. "You zoned out on me there."

Nick felt his eye's focus on his teammate's face, the background becoming a blur to his eyes. "Oh sorry," he offered. "I was just thinking about some things; anyway, your right we do need to get to sleep and so do you."

Gold began backing toward the door as he eyed the pair suspiciously. "You two are up to something," he decided after some thought. He waited a few seconds, teasing his siblings by allowing them to grow nervous in the silence. "Just don't get us in too much trouble," he said with a grin before finally leaving.

The moment the male left the room, both Nick and Tinu let out a small sigh of relief only to burst out in a strange combination of laughing and giggling at the same time. "Good night Nick," the girl said happily before snuggling into her blanket and resting her head against the starch white pillow.

Nick turned to turn off the small lamp next to their beds and let out a small yawn himself. "Goodnight Tinu," he said with a yawn, only to be greeted with a soft snoring noise.

Nick smiled and closed his eyes, sure the next few weeks would be host to some interesting events.

* * *

Nick awoke to the usual sounds of Tinu getting ready. For all that the girl proclaimed she wasn't a morning person, she always got up an hour earlier than necessary in order to have time to do her hair and pick out proper clothing. Nick still didn't understand the last part, since all their clothes were the same grey shirts and sweat pants, but she insisted anyway.

"Do you have to be so loud?" he asked in a joking manner, only to get smacked in the face with a pillow; their usual morning ritual when they were going to fight Manny's team. He couldn't really remember how they'd fallen into it, but it helped break the nervousness.

"At least I don't snore!" she yelled back with a small giggle, brushing out the slightly tangled bit's of hair.

"Right, my bad, I forgot you're immune to anything you don't like," Nick commented before heading off into the small, bare bathroom they had to share. While it would have been more cost effective to build a communal bathroom for everyone, Mom once mentioned it was to "keep the purity" of her research. Nick suspected it had a connection to the fact that none of them knew how many siblings they really had. Not that he minded much, it just meant he had a shorter walk to get ready in the morning.

Nick and Tinu quickly fell into their usual routine, him dodging past her to use the sink whenever it was available and her dominating the bathroom space with various hair care products and devices he couldn't begin to guess how she'd procured. There was a lot of accidental bumping into each other, and more than one occasion of strategically planned elbowing, as well as a close call where he'd almost spit toothpaste into Tinu's hair. In the end, they both managed to be ready to leave the room on time.

As they quietly made their way down the hall, Nick heard the familiar footsteps of his teammate's right behind them. They never failed to meet up early on days like this. "You guy's ready?" He called out.

"Ready as we'll ever be I suppose," a voice answered back, still sounding groggy as if they had been forced out of the bed at the last minute.

Nick and Tinu slowed for a few paces so their teammates could catch up. Gold looked ready and excited, like always, while his dark haired partner appeared akin to death warmed over. Boron was definitely not a morning person. Or an anytime person, really. Tinu shot him an encouraging smile, which earned her a scowl.

"Cheer up, will ya?" Nickel said in a playful manner before poking Boron's side, much to the latter's annoyance. At first, the older male chalked it up to simply being grumpy, but when the boy started rubbing his arm the blonde felt a wave of concern wash over him. "Is your arm still bothering you from last time?"

"A bit," Boron admitted. "Carbon...can really hit hard when he's pissed."

"I can't believe he hit you when you weren't even fighting him," Tinu said. She'd been sure the swinging fist was going to hit her face during their last training session, but at the last second the charging man had become distracted and accidentally hit Boron instead.

"Next time, if you're gonna anger him, try to take the hit yourself," Boron suggested. To anyone else he would have sounded serious, but Gold could hear the joking undercurrent to the words.

Tinu just gave a small, nervous giggle as she took the joke to heart. Looking forward again, she let out a small sigh. It couldn't have possibly been that long yet, but there they were, in front of the large, metal doors that led into the training room. Gold was the first to move, the others watching for a moment before following.

They entered the room and were immediately met with the sight, smell, and sounds of an earth jungle.

"I guess we're starting right away," Nick said questioningly, finding a toppled stone column with their weapons laid out on top. He grabbed his sniper rifle before passing Tinu the twin needlers. Boron grabbed the assault rifle and handed his partner the waiting DMR.

"Alright," Gold began, using his favorite overdramatic leader voice. "We know the objective, let's get in, get out and try not to piss off the wrong people this time."

The blonde's three teammates gave a small nod, each holding a serious look about their expression, though Nick felt the same air about them as he did his own. At first, everyone stood still, though the moment Gold started running, the rest followed.

"Tinu," Nick said, sensing some nervousness from his partner.

"Yeah?" She replied, her eye's moving frantically around their environment, unsure if the opposing team would try to ambush them this time.

"I want you as my spotter, same as always," he said, giving her a small smile. This seemed to brighten her mood, like it always did when he showed his trust for her.

Gold motioned for the group to slow when they saw some ruins in the distance. "Nick, Tinu, you two stay here," he said, motioning to a good sniping position for Nick. "Guard our backs while Boron and I move ahead."

Tinu nodded while Nick began climbing a partially fallen pillar.

Once Nickel felt he had a good vantage spot, the graying brunette situated his sniper rifle so it was at the entrance of the ruins, ready to guard his teammates' backs. Although in reality, if anyone of the opposing team felt the need to cause serious harm to his teammates, there was little the paint balls could do.

* * *

Boron looked around quietly, seeing no one in the first hallway. "Gold, I'm going to go up ahead a little bit, cover me." He whispered, bursting into a small jog a moment later.

Gold followed up to the end of the hall, staying in the shadow it provided while Boron stepped into the ruined temple's main chamber. A hole in the ceiling allowed light to filter down through a haze of dust and leaves and finally settle on their objective; a large metal disc with a jewel in the center. Gold rolled his eyes at the sight. Mom never really tried for originality in designing their training missions. This was the same 'objective' they'd been finding for the past month.

Boron made a mad dash to the object, failing completely to bother looking around for any guards that may be in the room. Gold however wasn't as brash in his endeavors. It didn't take long for him to notice the increasingly large shadow closing in with Boron at its center. "BORON, LOOK OUT!" He yelled.

Almost immediately, the boy stopped what he was doing and did a small barrel roll to the side, narrowly missing a huge behemoth of a man's fist where his skull would have been.

The giant let out an animalistic growl and swung at him again. Boron ducked under the powerful yet slow attack and tried to run around his opponent. Unfortunately he was met with the giant's partner, who'd conveniently hidden behind her brother. A foot was planted firmly in Boron's chest and he fell back.

Gold began firing at the pair while Boron scrambled back. Silver managed to dodge the paint while Manganese allowed his forearms to be plastered, ensuring the paint hit nowhere vital and therefore didn't tag him out of the match.

Gold grunted as the recoil from the gun started to cause a small amount of pain in his shoulder, most of their guns did in order to prevent from shooting the paint balls at a lethal rate by adding an extra punch to the user. Suddenly, just as he aimed the DMR at the giant's head, he heard a loud clicking noise, indicating that he had run out of rounds.

"Ah shit," he said to himself as he felt around his hip for an extra clip, his partner meanwhile launched a barrage of small, painless paint balls from the assault rifle, needing to hit a vital area with at least half a clip before the opponent could be counted as out. Manganese however held a feral grin about him as he reached out and simply crushed the gun with a single hand while Silver gave Boron another well placed kick.

"Why are you guys picking on me?" he complained as he backed away toward his partner. He knew he was fast enough to stay ahead of one of them, but he couldn't handle these two together. Silver and Manny had a way of juggling an opponent between them that gave anyone unfortunate enough to face them both at once no chance to counter attack.

Gold meanwhile finished reloading his gun. He signaled for Boron to duck as he began firing at their opponents. Silver ducked behind her partner again as they continued advancing forward.

"Gold!" Boron yelled as he watched his partner shoot paint ball after paint ball at his opponents. "Cover me!"

The smaller of the pair ran off behind the giant and the girl behind him, making a way to the objective. Oddly enough he managed to grab it without incident, causing him to look back in confusion only to see his partner having to deal with the both of them in hand to hand combat, effectively getting the crap beaten out of him. Still the man raged on, hoping to distract them long enough to allow for Boron to escape. The dark haired boy hesitated for a moment, not wanting to leave his brother behind like that, before deciding on a course of action.

Suddenly, to nearly everyone's surprise, a paint ball whizzed though the air, hitting Silver right in the forehead. It didn't come from either Gold or Boron's weapons, nor did it come from Manny's. Soon enough, though, a voice rang out from the far corner of the room, revealing the shooter's identity. It was an area that was well hidden in shadow's which was why neither of them noticed the male before.

"Um...my gun accidentally went off. But it was sooo not my fault, so um...yea."

Silver immediately sat down in the middle of the fight, playing dead. Gold almost laughed at the frustrated, enraged look on her face. Luckily for his future safety, the sound was prevented from escaping by Manny's fist connecting with his face. A computerized voice announced that he was out, since they'd determined long ago that if Manganese didn't pull his punches during training he'd easily kill someone, so it counted as a lethal blow. Gold sat down next to Silver and watched as the giant ran after his teammate.

"So, where's Neon?" Gold asked casually, ignoring the scream from his partner who'd just realized he was alone trying to fight Manganese.

"Hiding, at least I hope so; after last match, I would have thought that both Carbon and Neon would have gone after Nickel and Platinum, though Carbon is...Carbon so you can't expect much." She replied in a friendly manner; her team was really the only one's Gold's team fought on a regular basis so they held a pleasant relationship with one another.

"Right...hey um, I know this is going to sound weird but I think Nick might be planning something. He was going to tell me last night I think, but there really wasn't time. So if you get the chance, meet up with him after the match is over and try not to look like you're going to hide something this time. Mom may not be constantly watching us but she does watch you quite a bit."

"She doesn't 'watch me'," Silver insisted, going so far as to add air quotes. "She and I work together a lot."

"Which she doesn't let anyone else do," Gold added in a teasing manner.

"It's not some conspiracy," Silver said. "She already took the time to teach me how to run some of the lab equipment. She thinks it's more efficient to have me keep helping her than to teach someone else. Besides, most of what I do is just babysitting anyway. She's too busy to take care of the kids."

"Heh, well considering we're supposed to be dead, let's watch the show." He replied, watching his brother run well beyond the range of either Carbon or Manny. Still, Neon was nowhere to be seen and that wasn't entirely a good thing in Gold's book.

"Tinu, Nick," Boron said, trusting his earpiece to carry the message to his teammates. "I'm leaving the temple now. Manny and Carbon are on my tail. Cover me."

"Got it," Nick said, aiming for the structure's entrance. Suddenly something heavy fell from one of the trees above and knocked into his back. Nick fell from the pillar, leaving Tinu with a very pleased looking Neon.

"Gah, damn, I think that threw out my back," Nickel said half seriously, unaware that Tinu was still in proximity to hear him.

The normally happy and bubbly girl quickly gained a calm exterior as she turned her attention to Neon, who seemed unaware of the pain Nick held. For the most part, it was generally understood to go light on the man due to his rapidly aging body and unlike a few years ago, he couldn't withstand as much as he used to.

"Jerk!" she yelled. "You could have actually killed him! You know Nick can't take a hit like that."

The realization came over Neon while a guilty look spread across her face. "W-wait, I just meant to get you guys back for last time! I didn't mean to actually hurt him!" she said frantically, any and all playfulness she'd held previously now gone.

Nick rolled over from his place down amongst the fallen leaves and dirt, brushing a fake ant off his face. He looked up at the two girls, one holding a murderous look in her eyes. "Tinu, calm down," he said carefully. He was definitely winded from the fall, but not actually hurt thanks to the room's safety features. Of course, this didn't matter to Tinu.

"She could have hurt you!" Tinu exclaimed.

"Look, I didn't mean to," Neon said defensively. "And really, he shouldn't have climbed this high if he can't handle the fall."

"YOU-" the emotional blonde began.

"Tinu," Gold snapped, voice ringing loudly in her earpiece. He technically wasn't supposed to talk to his team after being taken out, but he thought this was a good exception.

"Look, I really am sorry; I wasn't thinking," Neon said, pouting a little. "If it makes you guys feel any better, you can count me as out too. I'm pretty sure you would have killed me if I did actually hurt Nickel, anyway."

Tinu quieted down for a moment before sliding down the dirt path to where her partner was, poking his face a bit. "Don't worry Nick, I'll avenge you!" She said in a dramatic tone, only to watch as the man sat back up.

"Tinu, I'm not dead, that didn't register as a kill, and you need to go apologize to Neon," the older looking boy said.

The blonde let out an uncharacteristic grunt, though she knew he was right. While they were still supposed to be enemies, they were all family and she knew her outburst was a bit harsher than necessary.

"Hey, we don't have time for that shit. I have a seriously pissed off idiot and a guy who looks like he's the poster child for steroids right on my tail, I have the objective and backup is kinda needed NOW!" Boron shouted, bringing their attention back to the task at hand.

"On it!" Tinu called as she pulled Nick back to his feet. Once she was sure he was okay she vaulted up to the top of the pillar again and delivered a swift punch to Neon's chest. The shorter girl lost her balance and fell to the ground, followed by a stream of paint filled crystals.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" she shouted, finding herself doused in pink liquid as each crystal popped.

"Serves you right!" she called out. Then, as an afterthought, she shouted a quick apology before running off to her teammate's location. "Boron, how are you holding up?"

"I've discovered I can use Manny punching me in the back as a sort of speed boost," he answered sarcastically.

"Just hold on, I'm coming for you," she said, flipping off of the pillar and toward her distressed teammate.

Nick followed behind at a slower pace, having to catch his breath once in awhile. For the most part Tinu was able to ignore things like these, though every now and then it became more obvious. She tried to hide it, but she worried for her brother. Sure, he was fine now, but she wondered what might happen if they were ever sent on a real mission.

Shaking her head she continued onward, quickly arriving at her brother's location. "Boron, where are you?" she called out, only to have someone reach around from behind and clap a hand over her mouth.

"Shhh, I think I lost them, but with your big mouth we're going to get caught," Boron whispered.

Tinu pushed him off and ducked into the foliage where he was hiding. "You are so creepy," she commented in a whisper.

"Just stay close," Boron answered, ignoring the insult. "If they catch us on our way back to the base, I need you two to hold them off while I run ahead."

"Nick's second in command," Tinu pointed out sulkily. She hated it when Boron tried to lead.

The smaller boy turned an angry look toward her. It looked like he would speak, but he was beat to it.

"And Nick says he's right," Nick whispered, trying to stop their fight before it could happen. "He's fastest, Tinu. It's a good contingency plan."

"You guys are mean," she said, though neither had time to reply when a large tree landed right next to them. Carbon was standing in front of the group with an angry expression on his face.

"I WILL NOT LET YOU KILL THE KITTIES!" he yelled before ripping another tree out of the ground.

"I told you, you bloody moron, I did not say that. Fucking Manny is lying!" Boron yelled before running off in the opposite direction.

Tinu immediately went to meet their easily confused brother, trying to get him to drop the tree so she could fight him better. Nick kept a look out for Manganese. He was confused the older man wasn't here already. He'd have thought the two would have arrived together...

"It's a distraction," he realized out loud.

"I am not distracted," Carbon said in confusion.

"No, not you," Nick said exasperatedly. "Tinu, Manny's waiting somewhere ahead for Boron. Run and warn him."

Carbon dropped the tree as the adrenaline left his body, giving him his normal strength back for the moment. "Wait, if I am here, then where is Boron. I'm supposed to be with boron trying to stop him, so does that mean I'm not here?" He asked in a confused tone, leaving a frustrated Nickel alone with the male.

"Carbon, we've been over this before, now before I try again, do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Are we on the same team now?" Carbon asked.

* * *

"Put me down, you fucking behemoth!" Boron screamed, thrashing in an attempt to escape. He'd run face first, literally, into Manganese a few seconds before. After Boron had refused to let go of the artifact, Manny had decided it'd be easier to just carry his brother back to the temple. Now the smaller male was tucked under his arm, both arms pinned to his sides and screaming furiously.

"I could just rip your arms off." He said in a joking manner, his voice holding a rather low growl to it.

The threat, as it was, seemed to calm Boron down, or at the least subdue him into a quiet whimper. He had seen Manganese get upset before when someone didn't listen and he felt that his dignity was less important than keeping his limbs intact. "Can you at least let me walk?" he asked, knowing their team had already lost, just as with every other time they sparred together.

Manganese growled a note that sounded decidedly negative, making no move to release his captive. They met up with Tinu partway back to the temple, but she didn't bother helping Boron. She'd already been told the match was over, and her teammate didn't look like he was in any danger.

"This is humiliating," Boron seethed.

"That's the point," Manny rumbled, an amused smirk appearing on his usually impassive face.

"What'd I ever do to you?" Boron demanded, tone turning whining again.

"Got Silver shot," the older boy answered. When Boron tried to deny it, Manny cut him off with a harsh shake. "Saw you shine the light on her head."

"Not my fault your brother's and idiot," he said in a childish tone, only to receive a warning smack to the head.

"You know, it would do you some good to be quiet when someone who can crush you like a grape is holding you," Silver said as she and Gold rejoined the group, playfully ruffling the boy's hair.

"Yeah, yeah," Boron said grumpily, bucking her hand off his head. "Just tell your fucking attack dog to let me go already."

Silver rolled her eyes before nodding to Manny, who promptly dropped the boy in a not so gentle way.

Upon reaching the temple, a voice rang out as the simulation ended, revealing a rather large and empty steel room. "Simulation over," it announced.

Neon and Carbon seemed pleased with themselves while Tinu started pouting and Boron glared daggers at the pair. Silver, however, quietly made her way over to Nickel, giving him a look that told him to talk in quiet.

"I'm fine, really," Nick assured her before she had a chance to speak. He was used to the way his oldest sister would check up on anyone who got hurt during training whether they happened to be on her team or not.

"I'm sure you are," Silver said, tone making it clear that's not what she was interested in for once. Nick immediately stood straighter at the seriousness of her voice. "Gold said you're planning something."

"Oh, that," Nick said, relaxing slightly. "It's nothing. I mean, nothing bad. Tinu just wants a bunch of us to get together at some point."

"Oh?" She said, raising her eyebrow in a surprised tone. This wasn't even close to what she'd been expecting. "What for?"

"A party," he answered simply.

Silver nearly laughed at the answer. "Yeah, that does sound like Tinu," she said through a smile. "I guess it's alright," she finally decided. "You'll be breaking a lot of rules, but honestly I think most of mom's rules are there just to see if we'll break them. It doesn't make sense for her to not want us to know each other."

"So, will you come?" Nick asked hopefully.

"Maybe," Silver said uncertainly. "If I can convince Manny to come too."

"Alright, and if you guys wouldn't mind, considering we're a rather isolated team, spread the word," he requested with a small smile before patting her on the shoulder. Silver nodded her agreement before heading over to join the rest of her team

"Alright everyone," Gold announced to his team. "Training's over for the day, you know the procedure."

Each of the pairs went their separate ways, Neon explaining to Carbon once again about keeping his finger off the trigger and not aiming at teammates, Gold complaining to Boron about the bruise forming on his face, Silver getting lifted up to Manganese's shoulders, and Tinu chatting happily at Nick.

Gold let out a small yawn as he looked over at his team. "Wow, that drained me out and I barely did anything except get punched in the face by Manny," he said in a joking manner as the four of them walked down the hall to their respective quarters.

"At least you didn't have to try to reason with Carbon," Nick said wearily.

"Half my face is now purple," Gold said, attempting to end the argument of who had the worst experience in training It's a game they'd played for a long time. "I won that round. Just give up."

"I don't know, Gold, we all love Carbon but you know firsthand how talking to him can be," Tinu offered in a playful manner.

"That's exactly why I win, because I have the experience of both. At least Carbon usually only kills a few brain cells."

"I got captured by Manganese," Boron pointed out.

"That only hurt your pride," Gold argued teasingly.

"Shut up..." he replied as Nickel and Tinu split off from the group to go into their own room.

"So, that went well," Nick said once the door closed.

"We lost," Tinu reminded him. "Only two people from their team got taken out, and one was by their own teammate."

"Still counts for something," Nick shrugged. "Besides, it's helping us prepare for when we're needed," he reminded her before making his way into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

Tinu climbed up to her bunk and immediately began sketching on her holo-pad. A few minutes later she realized that instead of drawing clothes like usual, she'd drawn a room done up with streamers and a giant banner. "Do you think pink's a good color scheme for the party?" she called toward the bathroom, shouting to be heard over the noise of running water.

"Tinu, I have my eyes closed, soap in my hair, and I honestly could care less as a bunch of that soap has combined with my eyes," he shouted back, unaware of how harsh he was accidentally sounding.

"Well, since your eyes are already closed, just try to imagine it," Tinu persisted. "I know I like pink, but everyone else might not be as fond of it. I want the party to be perfect, so I need to pick out the perfect decorations."

Nick took a deep breath to calm down. He then spit out a mouthful of shampoo and decided that deep breaths like that weren't good while rinsing his hair. "I don't think we'll be able to have decorations," he said eventually.

"B-but we can't have a part without decorations!" She yelled, making her way into the bathroom to yell at him in person.

"Tinu, you know I love you," he said, looking out from the slightly-blurred shower curtain. "But get out before I strangle you to death, these shower's are the one thing I ask to for myself."

Needless to say, the male quickly grabbed a towel and rushed his oblivious sister out of the bathroom in order to dress himself.

"I've known you since we were infants," Tinu reminded him. "We were given baths together as kids. You have literally nothing to hide from me."

"Tinu, please, for my peace of mind, stay out of this bathroom when I am showering," Nick begged. He stepped back into the main room once he was dressed, hair still damp.

"Now, back to decorations!" Tinu announced brightly.

"Look, unless you can make something out of old soup cans and pillow sheets, then you're out of luck," he said as he sat on Tinu's bunk and looked over the designs. In truth, most of them were pretty good aside from a few feminine details.

"How could I get my hands on old soup cans?" Tinu mused.

"No," Nick said quickly. "That was a joke. We are not sneaking out and stealing trash to decorate with."

"Well, what else are we supposed to do?" she demanded. "We can't just have a party in a big empty room!" The teen's eyes widened suddenly as a thought came to her. "Oooooh!" she squealed. "Nick, Nick, Nick, you're good with computers, right?"

"Yea... why are yo-" He stopped when he realized what she was getting at. "Tinu, no, that's not going to happen."

"Pllllllllleeeeeeaaaassssseeee," she begged, managing to form a few tears in her eyes.

"We will get in so much trouble," Nick said, hoping she'd see reason. "If we change the training programs-"

"You just need to add one new program," Tinu pleaded. "Just some cool lighting, chairs, streamers, maybe some confetti..." She trailed off as she thought of more things to add.

Nick gave out a small sigh as he realized there was no changing her mind. He had really hoped to get rid of the idea completely due to the sheer amount of trouble they would get in if they got caught. It was obvious that Tinu wasn't going to be dissuaded, though. At this point, the least he could do was make sure she had fun doing it. Though, there was still the chance that if he was careful enough, Mom might never know. "Alright," he began. "But we have to keep it limited so Mom won't realize that we changed things around."

"Yes! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she cheered, hugging him tightly.

"Tinu, choking," Nick gasped. She eased up instantly, though she still kept one arm slung around his shoulder.

"Now, about the color scheme..." Tinu began. With a tap of her finger, the holo-pad in her lap was filled with tiny squares of various different colors.

"Only one item can be pink." He warned, the less color's they used meant the less data and power the used.

"Just one?" she pouted. "Can I make the other decorations different colors?"

"I'll give you two main colors with three secondaries. Pink can be one of them. But that's it."

Tinu quickly picked five of the squares on her list.

"Those are all pink," Nick said slowly.

"No," Tinu insisted. "That's pink," she said, pointing to the first block. "And that's fuchsia, amaranth, cherry blossom, and lightish red."

"Uh huh, well you see the problem is, if I can't tell the difference, do you think anyone else will?"

"If they're smart," Tinu teased, poking his side.

"Alright, then. I guess that means I'm not smart enough to help reprogram the training room," Nick said in a mock threat.

"Fine...how about these?" she asked in a pouting tone, showing a range of blue and green colors, as well as a bunch of furniture with pink accents.

"Sure, that looks great," Nick said.

"That's it? Just 'it looks great'? Nothing more?"

"Tinu," Nick said seriously. "I will never be able to see what you do in all these colors. If you think it's good, then I trust your judgment."

"So you can do it?" She asked just to hear his confirmation.

"Yea...but we have to be careful."

"We will be," Tinu assured him. "Mom will never know we've done anything, and we'll all have loads of fun. You'll see."

"Good, now why don't we see about getting a bite to eat?" He said, motioning jokingly towards the food synthesizer about the size of a mini fridge in the back of their room.

"You make me something," Tinu requested. "It always comes out weird when I try."

"That's because you enter the codes out of order."

"All I know is last time the 'steak' had the same texture as bread," Tinu said, making a disgusted face. "You make me something," she demanded again.

"Fine fine, broccoli and pork chops it is." He said, making his way over to the synthesizer.

"And potatoes," Tinu said as she continued sketching decoration ideas for Nick to approve.

"And potatoes," he added, smiling softly as he input the codes to gain a respective output needed. Several minutes later, the pair were eating their food and going over various designs well into the night.

"Hey Nick," Tinu said eventually, looking over the plans they'd written out. "The others are going to like this, right?" she asked, sounding uncharacteristically unsure of herself.

"I'll tell you what, if they don't we can let Manny deal with 'em," he said before eating the last of his food. "And I'm sure they'll love it anyway."

"I just want all of us to have fun," she said, leaning on him and yawning. "I want us to be a real family, not just a bunch of people who were made together."

"Hey, we are a family," Nick assured his sister. "But we won't have our party if you don't get some sleep. Mom leaves tomorrow for about a week and I need at least a day to get things ready. And I'm sure you're going to want to be there to make sure it's right."

"Of course I'll be there," Tinu said. "I need to make sure everything's perfect." She reluctantly closed the holo-pad and laid back on the bed while Nick jumped down to his own.

"Goodnight Tinu," Nickel said, turning out the lamp and once again being greeted by the soft sound of his twin's snores.

* * *

The next day progressed similarly. They had training in the morning, and afterward they spent most the day planning the party, Nick having accepted that he wouldn't be able to finish his book until Tinu's project was over. They decided to wait a full day after mom left before trying to access the training room's controls, just to be safe.

After setting themselves up in the training room, they began about their work.

"Alright, Mr. Big Brain, time to get to work," Tinu announced playfully. "I'll play look out while you set the new program."

"Alright, alright; things are going to be light, a few chairs, a table with food, and maybe confetti," he said as he began his work.

"Do you think it'll be enough chairs?" Tinu asked from her place at the door.

"Hard to tell," Nick admitted. "We've only met three other teams, but Silver told me that there's more. I'm not sure how many people we'll have show up."

"Make a few couches then! And music! And what movie should we watch?" She asked in an excited tone as Gold and Boron made their way into the room, fully expecting a training exercise for the day.

"Um, what are you guys doing?" Boron asked in confusion.

"Oh, you know, just stuff," Nick said casually. "Tinu's being the worst lookout in the universe. I'm entering a new program in the training room's holoprojectors. The usual."

"For what reason?" Gold inquired.

"A party!" Tinu yelled

"A... party?" Boron asked in disbelief. "I honestly can't imagine anything else that could get you in more trouble than this, and you're doing it for a party?"

"Yep!"

Boron quietly walked away and promptly began smashing his head against a wall, though not hard enough to actually cause damage. Gold let out a small sigh as he made his way over to his twin, attempting in vain to calm the boy down. "There there, at least try to have some fun tonight."

"But I can't figure out why, and for what reason, would she throw a party knowing we're all going to get it." He said, in a sulking tone, though Nickel suspected there was a bigger issue going on between them and this was just his way of venting it out.

"Maybe it'll be good for us," Gold hypothesized. "Think of it this way. If we go tonight, we could get to know other people in our family and realize why we're the best team."

"Second best," Boron corrected angrily.

"Hey, hey, we're only second best if we say we're second best. We're number one!" Gold said, trying to cheer him up in vain.

A holographic chair appeared in the middle of the room as Nick continued to enter the program. Boron attempted to sit in it, only to find that the hard light aspect hadn't been set yet. He fell straight through the hologram and to the floor. This, of course, did nothing for his anger.

"The only time we ever win against them is when Silver goes away with Mom somewhere," he said vehemently. "They even have an idiot like Carbon on their team, and their official leader can't plan worth shit without his partner around, and we still always lose. It's not fair!"

"Hey now," Gold said in a soothing voice as he pulled his brother up from the floor. "They're still our family and you know what, I bet the next mission we will beat 'em' "

Boron seemed to quiet down from the tone of his brother's voice. Neither Tinu nor Nick knew why their leader had such a calming effect on his twin but it always worked so they didn't question it. Still, when Boron made his way over to Nick who had stopped paying attention, Tinu looked visibly tense.

"You," he said in a demanding tone. "Considering you're the only one to ever get the synthesizers to work completely, your making the food. I want strawberry cake." Despite the childish demand and stature of his teammate, Nick gave a small nod, knowing that Tinu wouldn't have much objection to a pink cake and if it helped cheer the younger male up, he didn't see a problem with it.

"Sooo," Tinu said, drawing out the word in a way Nick was sure she didn't realize was annoying. "Are you two gonna help?" she asked hopefully.

"It looks like Nick's already got everything covered," Gold pointed out as the room was finally filled with all the decorations they'd planned. "What do you need our help for?"

"We still need to pick out music," Tinu explained. "Nick," she added, sticking her tongue out toward her partner, "doesn't like any of my choices."

"I can't imagine why," Boron muttered sarcastically.

"What about something classical, like from the early two thousands?" he asked.

"Yuck! Boring old music!" Tinu exclaimed, flopping onto one of the couches. This time the furniture seemed to have been fully formed, and she landed with a soft bounce.

"Classical it is," Nickel announced, completely ignoring her comment. A moment later some soft rock began to play.

Tinu continued to make faces as the music played, though after a few minutes her mood seemed to change. "I guess it's not too bad," she finally admitted, albeit grudgingly. "Y'know, for old people music."

"See, your elderly brother knows good music when he hears it," Nick said, mimicking an old man's voice.

"Shut up," Tinu said. "Even if you were as old as you look, this still wouldn't be your generation of music. Anyone who was ever a fan of this has been dead for hundreds of years."

"Just 'cause they're dead doesn't mean they had bad taste," Nick argues. "Like I keep saying, it would be good for you to learn more about the nuances of human history."

"There's too much human history! If I spend all my time trying to learn it all, I'll never get to pay attention to now."

"She has a point," Boron said playfully before jumping right on Tinu's lap. "And you're in my seat."

"I was here first," Tinu declared, shoving him off onto the floor. "Go find your own."

"Yea well, shut up," he countered, trying to pull her off the couch as he fell down.

Luckily for Tinu, her natural grace allowed her to maintain her position on the couch. "Why do you want this seat, anyway?" she asked.

"Well, after last time I'm not willing to trust any of this holographic furniture," Boron explained. "The only couch I can be certain is safe is the one you're sitting on."

"Fine you big baby, I wasn't going to sit here anyway." She said with a pout before moving to one of the beanbag chairs; however the moment Boron went to sit down on the couch, it disappeared causing him to fall to the floor.

"Ow! Nick what the hell?" he asked angrily, only to see his partner at the console while Nick was organizing the movie sequence in the far corner. "Gold?! You traitor!"

"Payback for what you did to my pillow last week," Gold said simply.

"It wasn't on purpose!"

Gold snickered lightly before helping his twin onto the now solidified couch. "I still had to explain to Mom why it was covered in drool, torn to shreds and had several stab wounds in it."

"I still say it's your fault for letting me keep a knife in the room," Boron grumbled. He sat down carefully, fully ready to jump back to his feet at the first sign of falling. This time, however, the couch did seem to be fully solid, the holograms having been programmed with a bit of give to simulate soft cushions.

"So you're saying I shouldn't let you keep them in the room?" Gold questioned, though he was already well aware of the negative answer his twin was going to give him; once received, Gold simply sat down next to his smaller counter-part and looked over to the thin glass screen that started to display an animated kid's movie. While he had never personally been one for them, he always thought the silly animation and the old style of music felt right to his ears.

He didn't have long to look however as the adjacent door to the training room slid open and Silver and her team made their way in, along with several other teams that no one recognized. Most held confused or annoyed looks about them and each team held varying ages from toddlers to children a little younger than themselves.

"No, no no!" Tinu said quickly, jumping up from where she'd been testing each of the seats. "We're not ready yet. We don't even have snacks ready."

One of the younger girls held up a try of food and placed it on the table. "Silver said for everyone to bring something," she explained as a representative from each team presented their own contribution.

Tinu looked to the older woman, who had four toddlers clinging to her legs with curious, if slightly scared, expressions on their young faces.

"Well, we each have our own synthesizers, and I didn't want Mom to get more suspicious than she already was about this party, so we each made something, as long as it met my digression," She said, looking at one of the younger kids who muttered something about candy.

Manganese pushed past her, a large box filled with bottles of soda tucked under each arm. He went to set them near the table, a few of the younger kids scattering out of his way as he moved.

Boron glared at the large man, mumbling about his revenge.

"You know, if you keep looking at him, he might just come over and do something about it." Silver teased in a playful manner.

Manganese heard the comment and turned to look at the sullen boy, who yelped and backed away in response.

"Luckily, we're not fighting anyone tonight," Silver said, a hint of warning in her voice that she aimed at her partner.

The large male let out a grunt before looking at one of the young children running around his legs. Apparently the man had somehow became home-base in a game of tag.

Silver patted him on the shoulder before grabbing Tinu's arm. "Come on," she said. "This won't work if they all stick to their own teams." The two girls began moving through the small crowd, grabbing teams or pairs of partners and introducing them to others; until everyone in the room was talking to someone they didn't know.

One of the smaller girls, who couldn't have been any older than three or four, looked at Tinu with awe as she quietly hid behind a piece of furniture only to move whenever she thought the older girl was out of sight.

Silver noticed the shadow after a few minutes. "I think you have an admirer," she whispered to Tinu, pointing back at the girl. Silver waved her forward. "It's alright, Rubi. You can come say hi."

The small girl quietly totted over to the other females, looking at Tinu's hair the entire time. "Y-your hair's really pretty," she said in a shy voice.

Tinu smiled brighter than Silver had ever seen in her life. "Oh, thank you!" she said, hitting a pitch often reserved for speaking to pets and small children. "You are just too sweet. What's your name?"

"Rubidium," the girl answered, a good measure of her shyness vanishing when met with the positive greeting. "Silver calls me Rubi, though."

"Well, Rubi, my name's Tinu," the blonde said, kneeling down to extend her hand toward the girl. "It is very nice to meet you."

"Tinu?" she asked, cocking her head while grasping the larger woman's hand, or at least half of it.

"It's short for Platinum," the blonde explained before bending down so she was at eye level with the tot. "Your hair's pretty too."

The young girl beamed and began tugging her older sister's hand. "Come on," she said as Tinu allowed herself to be dragged forward. "You should meet Tungsten and Francium and Silicon."

"Have fun!" Silver called after them. She spun in a slow circle, surveying the room. Everyone seemed to have warmed up to each other after the first few minutes and were all casually sitting or standing around talking. A few were showing off fighting moves and tricks. She debated stopping them but decided it didn't matter as long as they weren't actually fighting each other. Then, her eyes settled on a single lone figure, leaning against the wall just outside the circle of light cast by the holograms.

Making her way over, Silver let out a small sigh. "You know, you really should join the others."

"Why bother?" came the dark haired figure's reply.

"You might come to the shocking conclusion that you actually like people," Silver answered. "Come on, Zinc. You went so far as to show up. You might as well give it a try."

"I only came because you dragged me here," she replied, her voice holding no real emotion to it; from the look of her, she seemed to be in between an age range of Silver and Gold, placing her around seventeen or eighteen.

"Can you at least try to enjoy it?" Silver asked. "Look, you can just sit on the couch with Manny and share in glaring at everyone else's happiness," she joked.

"If I sit next to him, will you leave me alone?" Zinc asked, looking over at the seven foot tall man in the corner of the room.

"Fine," Silver sighed. "Although I really do suggest you try to meet the rest of the family. I know you never had a partner, but maybe you'll find someone to get along with."

"Don't count on it," Zinc replied as she made her way over to the large man who was now being used as a chip stand.

The two seemed to bond, as much as either of them was capable of, through a mutual look of annoyance with the situation. Zinc glared at Nick, who was sitting beside Manny, until the older man relinquished his seat. He then went to see if he could find some friendlier people, and hopefully run into his partner along the way.

It didn't take long before he found Tinu, who was currently sitting with Rubi in her lap allowing her to braid the older's hair while she jabbered on about random things. It didn't look all that interesting so he moved onto another area, running into Gold, Boron and another boy he didn't recognize.

"So, how are you guys liking Tinu's idea?" Nick asked. "I have to admit, it's worked better than I thought."

"Well, aside from all the neon colors, it's pretty good; also, who ever made the food need's to reconfigure their synthesizers. It all tastes weird, except for the cake," Gold answered.

"I still don't get how you all have such a problem with those things," Nick said. "They're designed to be used by civilians. They're simple to use. And yet, none of you seem to be able to make them work." He then pointed to the boy he didn't know. "Also, my name's Nickel. Who are you?"

"I-iron," the boy said in a nervous tone. He didn't appear very old, maybe eight or nine by Nick's guess.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Iron," Nick said.

The boy stared at him curiously for a few minutes. "Are you our dad?" he asked suddenly. When Nick gave him a shocked and ultimately confused look, he explained nervously, "I-it's just, you look about as old as mom is, so I thought..."

Nickel let out a small sigh. He supposed he should have expected some confusion to arise from his appearance.

"Nick's actually as old as Boron and I," Gold began to explain. "Mom did an experiment on him to see if she could make one of us age faster."

"Why'd she do that?" He asked in confusion. "Won't he die faster?"

"It isn't practical to take a full twenty years to grow soldiers for a war that's already been going so long," Boron said. "If she can make us age faster, so we're ready to fight sooner, it'll be better for the war." When the kid gave him a questioning look, he shrugged. "I'm not saying it's right. It sucks. But that's the way it is. I guess if it wins the war, then it's all okay in the end. I mean, that's what we're made for, right?"

"Yeah, we're family right?" the boy said, sounding as if most of what was just said to him went over his head, though this wasn't a surprise to anyone in his presence. Most of the younger kids didn't really understand what was going on or that even the fact that how they lived wasn't normal.

"Of course, why don't you go try the juice, I re-calibrated some of the food synths to taste better," Nickel offered, giving himself a chance to talk with his teammates alone.

"So, am I the only one who just now realized how fucked up all of this is?" Gold asked.

"What'd you expect?" Boron snapped. "We aren't people, Gold. We're fucking property. Bought and paid for by the UNSC. It doesn't matter what happens to us."

"That's not right. If Mom really cared she wouldn't do this to us," Gold said with some annoyance.

"Hey, she's just a busy woman and she's just as much property to the military as we are," Nickel countered before taking a bite of the cake that Iron had brought back to them before rushing off to go find his teammates.

"She chose this life, Nick. We didn't."

"Look, we can either accept it or bitch about it, but let's do neither tonight," Boron suggested. "Let's just do like Tinu said and try to be normal for once."

"Yeah, you're right," Nick said before swinging his arm around his younger teammate. "Speaking of which, go talk to some of the others. We won't have an opportunity like this again."

Boron made an annoyed face as he climbed to his feet. He looked around the room, seeing mostly children, before his eyes finally landed on someone his own age. She was sitting on a bench near the table, fiddling with something in her hands while a mane of curly brown hair spread around her face.

Making his way over to her, he let out a small grunt to let her know he was there. However, upon being ignored, he lightly tapped her shoulder. "H-hi," he said clumsily.

"I swear to God, if you try to convince me to be social like the last four people have, I will stab you with a fork," she said without looking up from what she was doing.

"Wow, well ain't you just a fucking ball of sunshine," Boron said in an annoyed tone.

"Exactly. Now go away," the girl responded.

"Come on, Yttri, don't be like that," another girl said, snatching the half built device out of her hands. "We're supposed to be talking to people tonight."

"Besides, if my sister sees you not socializing and you act that way to her, she'll probably start crying like a baby," Boron said, looking over to Tinu's position to see her hair braided in a neat pattern while she did the same to the younger girl's. "Well, assuming she actually notices anyone else."

"What makes you think I'd care if she cries?"

"Don't be mean," the other girl scolded before turning to Boron. "I'm Helium," she introduced happily. "And this grouch is Yttrium."

"Nice to meet you both," he replied. "I'm Boron and the old guy, the blonde girl and the jackass over there are my teammates," he said, pointing to each of them in order, "Nickel, Platinum, and Gold. As odd as it is, Tinu's the one who threw this party to try and meet everyone else. Of course, she would end up talking to some toddler while I'm the one actually trying to socialize," he joked.

"Wait, you're on Gold`s team?" Helium asked. Boron nodded. "That's impressive. I heard you guys are one of the best."

Boron quieted down for a moment before replying in a harsh whisper. "Yeah... One of the best."

At this point, the boy excused himself from their company and quietly made his way over to Gold and stood next to him. It wasn't too uncommon for the boy to do so whenever he felt unease with his emotions. Nickel once commented that Gold was a sort of security blanket for his more temperamental partner.

"Meet anyone interesting?" Gold asked.

"I think I disproved your theory that I'm the most I'll tempered person in the universe," he joked.

"Oh?" He asked, looking over to his twin's previous position. "I see you met Yttri."

"Real ball of fucking sunshine and rainbows," Boron commented.

"And yet, she's at least ten times smarter than both of us combined," Gold informed him.

"What's her specialty?" Boron asked.

"Mechanic's and Robotics, though I'm sure she does a lot of computer science too," he replied, taking a sip of one of the soda's Manny handed him early.

"Maybe she can make something to fix your aim," he teased. "And what about Helium?"

"Basic support," Gold answered. "She keeps people off Yttri's back while she's working."

"Ah, makes sense I suppose. Hey where'd you get the soda?" Boron asked curiously. While it was rare for him to have it due to his counterpart's constant parenting, and the fact that his body didn't process excess sugar well, on the few occasions he was allowed the smaller of the pair felt it was seventh heaven.

"Over there on the table," Gold said. "You can only have one."

"Not fair," Boron complained. "You can't boss me around when we're out of training."

"Actually, I can," Gold argued with a grin. "Besides, you know how you get when you've had too much caffeine."

"I'm perfectly fine," he said as he made his way over to the large male who seemed to be playing vanguard to the food and drinks. As odd as it was, Manganese looked over to Gold when asked by Boron if he could have a drink.

"Are you seriously going to stop me from getting a soda just because Gold doesn't think I should have one?" he asked impatiently. Manny didn't respond. "Why does everyone around here think he controls me? He's team leader, not my mom."

"Because team leaders are in charge of the group's well being, and if Gold doesn't think you should eat or drink something then you're not going to, plain and simple," Silver commented before grabbing a soda can out of the box and handing it to Boron. "And maybe you'd get more stuff if you asked nicely one and a while, kiddo."

"Not all of us have that luxury," Boron said with a scowl. "We aren't all lucky enough to have the best genes, as well as special treatment."

"Boron," Silver said in a low tone in order to avoid getting attention drawn on the boy. "Don't think you're too old to go over my knee."

He couldn't tell if she was serious or bluffing at that moment, but from the look both her, Manny, and even Gold were giving him, he didn't want to tempt it. She had only done that once in his life when he was quite a bit younger for breaking one of Mom's test tubes by accident. He later found out it was much better then what Mom would have done if she found out it was him. Muttering a quick apology, he scurried off, leaving Silver looking half pleased.

"You really ought to cut her some slack," Gold said once Boron joined him again. "It's not her fault she's oldest, or that mom makes her help in the lab so much. I don't think she likes it, and it's not really special treatment."

"She's better than us Gold... she always will be." He said in a sour tone before sipping on the soda can which seemed to help calm him down a bit.

"There's always going to be someone better than us," Gold pointed out, shoving his shoulder playfully. "I'd rather have it be our sister, who's on our side, than a random stranger."

"It still sucks," Boron replied, taking another sip of the soda before parting ways with his brother to go talk to some of the others in the room. In truth, this was the first time he had seen most of them.

Everyone mingled together for a little while longer until Tinu announced it was time for the movie. Nick typed a command into the panel on the wall and the chairs multiplied, forming into neat rows facing the wall where the film would be projected.

Everyone quickly scattered into a seat, some with their new-found friends, other's with their teammates. Either way it didn't matter because everyone's attention was on the screen in front of them displaying a rather old movie with the title of "Batman: The Animated Movie."

A loud shout of pain, however, interrupted the movie just as it began causing Silver to let out a small sigh. She didn't understand how or why, but Carbon always managed to find and hurt himself with one of Mom's experiments, or two of them in this case.

Neon was the first to reach Carbon's side, followed quickly by Silver. "What happened?" the more temperamental of the two girls asked, looking at her partner with concern.

"The kitties were fun to play with!" he announced, attempting to pet the spiky felines in his lap once more.

"Carbon, you shouldn't pet them," Silver said. "I told you that before. You'll hurt yourself."

"Let me handle it," Neon said. "Look, Car, these aren't nice kitties, okay? They're really mean. So you shouldn't pet them. Understand?"

"No, they cannot be mean," Carbon said adamantly. "They are kitties. And kitties are always fluffy and nice. So they are nice," he reasoned, though he seemed to question it when he noticed the quills still in his hand.

"Just...don't pet the kitties while we're watching a movie okay?" Silver asked, trying to reason with her brother. She loved him to death, she really did, but sometime's he could really annoy the crap out of her.

"But they're kitties and kitties must be petted!"

"Car, the kitties do not want to be petted," Neon said sternly. She picked the orange one up by one of its few non-spiky patches and set it back in its box. "Now go sit down and wait for the movie. I'll find something to pull the quills out with." Once he nodded and walked away she muttered, "I swear, one of these days I am going to shoot him." While she never showed it to Carbon's face, she very often didn't have the patience to put up with her partner.

As it was, Carbon sat there watching the movie placed in the front with most of the toddlers and from Silver's point of view, it worked out great; they got to use him as a seat, and he got to be with people who shared his mentality.

Silver had thought a few people would leave early during the movie, but after a little while she realized that almost everyone had stayed, even some of her most antisocial siblings. "You did good," she whispered to Tinu, nudging the girl with her shoulder.

Tinu gave Silver a gleaming smile from the praise, the young toddler having long ago fallen asleep. "You know, I'm glad I got to meet these guys," she whispered back. "Even if I did spend most of the day talking to Rubi."

Silver laughed quietly. "I had a feeling you two would get along," she admitted. "She reminds me of you when you were that young."

"Really?" Tinu asked.

Silver nodded. "Rubi's a little shier than you at first, but once she warms up to someone there's practically no difference."

"I hadn't noticed, we spent the entire night talking about clothes," she remarked as she quietly began to watch the movie.

Silver leaned on Manganese, who was sitting on her other side. "Are you glad you came?" she asked. The larger man grunted something indistinguishable as positive or negative, though Silver had no trouble understanding.

"Good," she said. "But try talking to people more next time around."

"Don't want to," he rumbled.

"They're your family too," Silver pointed out tiredly. It was a discussion they'd had many times before.

"Not like us," he countered, cracking open a soda can with his pinkie.

"Manny," she whispered seriously. "You know I'll always be your partner, but they're still our family. There's nothing wrong with being close to them too."

"Don't need them," he insisted.

Silver wanted to talk more, but her partner simply let out a grunt and pretended to turn his attention to the movie that was obviously of no interest to him. Silver sighed, once again giving up the discussion. She'd never once been able to convince her partner that the rest of their family should be as important to him as she was.

Looking around, she noticed most of the younger children and Carbon had fallen asleep and most of the older children held a bit of disinterest for the movie itself, giving her the feeling that unless there was something else planned, that they should start to wrap things up. Looking at her watch, she noticed it was also getting rather late for even some of the older children to be up.

"Hey, Nick," she whispered, leaning forward to see her brother on the other side of Tinu. "I think it's time to wrap up."

Nick looked around and noticed all the sleeping and disinterested people as well. "Agreed," he said, waving a hand to silence Platinum's complaints. "The party can't last forever, Tinu. Let's end it while everyone's still happy."

"Can we at least do it again?" she begged as she watched her brother make his way over to the projector and subsequently watched the lights brighten and the furniture fade away.

The few people unlucky enough to have fallen asleep in chairs instead of on the floor or, in the case of some of the youngest, on top of Carbon, were rudely awakened by their resting places disappearing.

"I don't see a problem with it," Silver said as she began recruiting some of the older experimental agents to help carry the kids to bed. "As long as we plan it for nights where mom is gone."

It didn't take long before the room was almost completely empty save for the original team. Boron looked just as sleepy as some of the younger children, needing the support of his twin to be able to walk around. "Hey guys, I'm gonna get Boron to bed. I think he snuck in a few more sodas when I wasn't looking," Gold said, noticing the soda cans at the smaller male's feet.

"Alright, I'm going to stay here a little while longer with Nick, there's something I want to do," Tinu said with a sly smile.

"Uh, why do I not trust that face?" Nick asked, backing away from his partner carefully.

"Because, you promised me something a long time ago that I never got. Do you remember what it was?"

Nickel stood in thought for a moment before smiling. "A dance?" he guessed.

Tinu tried to nod solemnly, but ended up grinning. "Come on, put on some good music," she encouraged excitedly.

Nick nodded and turned on a slow-dance song. "How's this?"

"Perfect," Tinu said, grabbing his hands. She froze for a second, never having danced or even seen anyone dance before.

Nickel smiled upon realizing the problem, showing his twin where to place her hands and how to move her feet.

Years spent learning how to move in response to someone else's actions for a fight, as well as Tinu's natural grace, allowed for her to pick up the basics of the dance quickly. The two were soon smiling and dancing in perfect time to the music.

By the time the song ended, Tinu looked happier then she had ever been, despite looking rather tired. "I'd love to do this again someday," she said as she stifled a yawn.

"I'll do my best to make it happen," Nick promised. He looked around the training room with tired eyes. There were still soda cans lying around, as well as empty food trays and plates. He gave a small yawn. "Mom shouldn't be back for a few more days," he reasoned. "We could wait to clean it in the morning."

"Yea, you look pret-ty tired," she said, the sentence cut partway through by a yawn, already making her way out the door.

"We'll deal with it in the morning," Nick said again as he followed her. "Maybe even recruit a few people to help."

"Hey, Nick," Tinu said once they'd made it back to their room.

"Yeah?" he asked with a yawn, falling into his bed without bothering to change.

"Thanks for helping me do this."

"Course, it made you happy and I had fun." He commented. He heard the slight creak of the mattress as Tinu jumped up to her own bed. "Good night, sis," he mumbled tiredly, once again being met with only her snores. He smiled as he flicked off the light and closed his eyes. Some things would never change.


	5. A Different Way to Say 'I Love You'

**First off, I want to say sorry for the lack of updates on our main stories. My co-author has been out of town and life has just been generally busy, so finding time to write hasn't been going very well. We're working on getting a chapter ready as soon as we can. In the mean time, I've wirtten this up. It's a oneshot I've been planning for a long time, featuring what has quickly become my favorite couple in these stories. So please, enjoy and tell me what you think. **

* * *

Simmons was moping. He told himself that wasn't the case and that there were plenty of not embarrassing and totally manly reasons for a grown adult to be sitting in his boxers eating ice-cream and watching poorly written romantic movies. Of course, he knew it was a lie. He knew he'd been moping all day. He figured he deserved it. He did just negotiate an important new contract for his company, all without any of Yttri's help. He hadn't had Yttri's help in days, actually. She hadn't even spoken to him in more than a week.

Simons whimpered and rolled onto his side, setting the empty bowl and spoon on the floor with the rest of his collection. He just didn't understand. They hadn't had an argument and as far as he knew he hadn't said or done anything to upset her. Besides, in the past When Yttri had been upset she had always told him. She wasn't the type to give him the silent treatment and expect him to figure it out.

And yet, she'd refused to speak to him at all for the past week. She hadn't even come home. She hadn't even gone missing, either. Simmons could have worried about her and spent his time trying to find her if she had. Instead, he knew exactly where she was. She'd locked herself away in her personal lab, back at their company's main building.

Simmons had tried to go in and see her. She normally kept the room sealed from everyone except him, letting him talk to her about the company or sometimes dragging him to a work table to blow off steam. This time, though, Yttrium had stationed Lopez outside her door, and the robot refused to let him in. He'd even found a translator to help, and had been told Lopez was ordered to specifically keep him out.

So now he had no other option but to sit and mope, wondering what he'd done wrong.

Just as he was debating if he should try to stand and find something more substantial to eat, or maybe go try to visit Yttri again, he heard the front door open. Simmons groaned, thinking Grif or someone else had come to bug him. Instead he heard a female voice that made his stomach do a flip.

"Hey, Cyborg, you home?" Yttri called. Her voice was followed by the sound of a heavy package being set down and footsteps approaching.

Simmons jumped to his feet, trying to push the dishes under the couch while convincing himself not to run and hide. Yttri walked in as he was panicking, though she didn't seem to notice or care about the mess, the silly movie on the screen, or Simmons general state of undress.

"Here you are," she said, excitement coloring her usually grumpy voice as she grabbed his hand. "Come on," she demanded, pulling on the metal appendage to lead him out of the room.

Simons followed wordlessly, glad that she was back and not mad like he'd feared. He froze, however, when they reached the kitchen, eyes fixing on the long box on the counter. It was wrapped in colorful paper and even had a bow stuck to the corner. He glanced from it to Yttri, raising an eyebrow.

"Tinu insisted on helping," she explained, looking at the decorations with some distaste. "Tackiness aside, it's what's in the box that you should concern yourself with." She'd let go of his robot hand as she spoke, shifting over to his more human side and threading her fingers through his, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"What-" Simmons squeaked, still somewhat unused to the touching. Yttri wasn't cold or anything, but she wasn't too cuddly or affectionate normally. Brusque was the word Tinu had used for her, and he had to admit that it fit, though not in a bad way. Part of him was glad for the contact, despite the way it caused his throat to constrict nervously, but he was also worried that it meant something bad.

He cleared his throat before trying to speak again. "What's in the box?" he asked, managing to sound understandable through his constricting throat.

"Why don't you open it and find out?" she said, breath close enough to tickle his ear as she kissed his cheek.

Simons blushed a bit as he reached out for the box, trying to keep his hands from shaking as he tried to open it. Yttri continuing to hug him didn't help much, either. He thought he should be sued to it by now, but he was beginning to think there were some things he could never get used to. He didn't mind much. It was embarrassing to be so nervous, but it meant it would never get boring for him. Besides, he was pretty sure Yttri liked making him blush.

When he finally got his hands on the lid for the box, he managed to slip it off with relative ease. He then folded back the black cloth covering the package and was startled into a gasp.

It was his arm. He knew it was. Everything about it, from the skin tone to the familiar patterns of freckles, including the particularly thick cluster above the elbow, had him thinking it was his. It was only when he focused on the shoulder and saw a few wires that he realized it was a fake, and she hadn't somehow stolen the arm from Grif.

"This is…" he breathed, reaching out hesitantly to touch it. It was cold, but it felt normal. Like real skin. He could even feel little hairs moving under his human fingers. "This is amazing," he finally managed to say, twisting in Yttri's arms to face her.

"Wait until it's attached," she said, finally pulling away to lift the arm from the box. She waved for Simmons to bring a chair over while she produced a few tools from her pockets.

"Is this what you've been working on?" Simons asked as he sat in front of her. Yttri nodded, pulling off his shirt and motioning for him to hold out his left arm. "You were gone for a long time," he added.

Yttri nodded and kissed his cheek again, a concentrated look spreading across her face. "Sorry," she said, sounding almost ashamed of it. "I needed to concentrate to get it right, and I thought you'd be a distraction."

Simmons frowned a bit, though he tried to take it as a compliment. He knew there was nothing else on the whole planet that could distract Yttri from something she found interesting.

"What's special about it, aside from the obvious?" he asked, wincing a bit when she disconnected the old arm from the nerves in his shoulder. That was always his least favorite part.

"You'll see," Yttri answered cryptically, setting the old robotic looking arm on the ground and shoving it away like garbage. "I'm glad to finally get rid of that thing," she muttered distastefully, kicking it a bit more. Simons couldn't help but grin. He knew she'd hated the arm since she first met him. He couldn't blame her. It was clunky and often malfunctioned, and had once nearly destroyed the nerves it was attached to. Plus it itched. He was glad to trade it out for whatever Yttri came up with. Her stuff was always the best.

Simmons tensed as Yttri finally picked up the new arm and brought it toward him. He felt a series of sharp pains as she connected it to his shoulder, feeling as each nerve was brought to life again. This was followed by a dull tingling. It felt like whenever one of his organic limbs would 'fall asleep' and go numb. He was about to ask Yttri if something was wrong with it when he felt another sharp pain, though this time it had moved from the amputation site on his shoulder to down around his bicep.

Simmons yelped and jerked away from the unexpected sensation. He didn't realize what he'd done, and what it meant, until the new arm was already curled against his side. Simmons eyes widened, then. He stretched out his left arm, watching the pale, freckle covered skin shift seamlessly as he did.

"Did… did you just pinch me?" he asked. He glanced up at the curly haired mechanic, who now sported a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"I had to test if it was working," Yttri explained with a shrug. Before Simons could question further she reached out and brushed her hand over his.

Simmons was frozen for a moment, mesmerized by the sensation. "How can I feel that?" he finally asked as his new hand was cradled in one of Yttri's, calloused fingers caressing over his palm.

"Synthetic nerves," Yttri whispered, moving the touches from his hand to his arm. "Freelancer had a similar technology, which they used to make agent Texas, but it was unrefined. I needed to make sure they were perfect before I could incorporate them in your arm." As she spoke she continued her ministrations, alternating between gentle caresses, taps of her fingertips, firm strokes of her palm, and a soft scrape of nails. She carefully watched Simmons' reaction to each of these, making small adjustments to the arm's sensitivity until it reached a normal level; enough for him to feel properly, without being overwhelmed.

Simmons, meanwhile, let his eyes drift shut, focusing on the sensation of the mechanic's hands on him. It was weird, feeling something again that had essentially been a void for years, growing used to the limb once again sending signals to his brain.

He could feel the hairs prickle under each pass of Yttri's hands. When she added her nails to the mix, he felt the goose bumps spread from the new arm to the rest of his body. He began to hum as Yttri massaged his bicep, losing track of her voice and letting it fall into a soothing murmur in the back of his head as she continued to explain the mechanics of the limb.

He eventually snapped out of this trance when one of the hands moved from his arm to cup the side of his face. Simmons eyes snapped open as a thumb caressed over his cheek. He looked up and saw a familiar pair of golden brown irises looking down at him.

"Do you like it?" Yttri asked, sounding pleased with herself in a way that meant she already knew the answer.

Simmons brain managed to surface enough to decide he should make her pay for disappearing like she had. "I don't know," he answered, trying hard to keep his tone even. "I think I might actually like the old one better." He waited just long enough for Yttri's eyes to narrow into a glare before grinning. He could tell from the slight twitch of her lip that she was trying not to smile as well.

Simmons reached up and brushed his fingers through her hair, trying to memorize the exact way each strand slipped through his fingers, the way he could feel the curls twist around each digit before finally dragging away. "I knew this would feel better with both hands," he mused.

Yttri finally rolled her eyes at him and pulled him up for a kiss. She hadn't seen the man in nearly two weeks. And she needed to have him test out his new arm more. She decided with a growing grin of her own that there had to be a solution for both problems, and it would be better acted out in their own room.

* * *

**PS, I feel like those last lines could have been better, but I can't think of how to do it, so I guess that's just it. Once again, sorry for the wait, and please tell me what you think. Feedback helps us know if anything needs to change (and feeds the ego, but we'll ignore that part.) **


	6. Iodine During the Attacks

**This takes place sometime around chapter 73 of Chemical Imbalance, when the copies were attacking their base. I don't think it's really my best work, but I wrote it up at the laundromat one day, so whatever. I just wanted to show another perspective from inside the base during the attack, and take the opportunity to flesh out a side character a bit more. Anyway, please enjoy and let me know what you think. **

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Iodine sprinted through the base, trying to keep in mind everything that needed to be done. He needed to keep pointing people to the hangar; that's where the sim-trooper had said for everyone to go. He also needed to keep asking if anyone had seen the kids; it was everyone's responsibility to take care of them and that included keeping them out of danger. He probably should also find a gun or something, in case he ran into whoever was causing all the explosions.

And he needed to find Beryllium. That one was very important. His partner was way better at keeping track of these things than he was. Iodine felt if he could just find her she would know what to do. Then maybe everything could turn out okay.

Iodine wasn't panicking. He was certain of that, at least. He was just running so he could find Beryl faster, and he was shouting so much because everything else was so loud. That wasn't panicking. He was just being practical. He was sure of it.

He really hoped he would find Beryl soon. She would totally agree with him. She was always reminding him that he was brave enough and could handle whatever was happening. If he could just find her, she'd tell him he was okay.

She'd helped him make it though the mission mom sent them on. She could help him out of this, too. He knew she could.

Iodine rounded a corner at top speed, only to immediately skid to a stop. He could see someone, obscured by smoke, standing amidst the rubble from one of the explosions. He couldn't see enough of the person's face to tell if they were one of his siblings or not. He didn't like that. It meant he couldn't tell if he should run toward this person or away from them.

Iodine was just about to call out to the mystery person when they walked out of the haze of smoke toward him. His heart leapt with joy when he recognized his partner's short brown hair and large green eyes and sharp chin. He began to run again, calling out her name as he approached, needing to reach her as soon as he could.

He felt like time slowed down, just for a moment, when he got almost close enough to touch her. A few things happened in quick succession, then. First, Beryl lifted her hands, which he now noticed were holding a gun, and aimed it at his chest. With this realization came another. Somehow, Beryl was taller than him now. Normally, when they stood this close, Iodine had to look down a bit to meet her eyes, but now he was tilting his head back a bit.

Before he had a chance to fully process what was happening, Iodine heard the gunshot.

He let out a wordless yell and clutched a hand to his chest, expecting to feel hot blood seeping between his fingers. Instead, he only found dry cotton. His eyebrows moved together in confusion and he looked up just in time to see the shocked look on Beryl's face before she fell, red splattering from the hole in the side of her head standing out against her pale cheek.

Iodine stared down at the body. His breaths sped up and grew shallower as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. His partner was dead. She had tried to kill him and now she was dead. He couldn't make the thoughts sound right in his head. They didn't make sense.

He finally forced himself to stop staring at the lifeless face. He looked around, trying to see who had shot Beryl, though he wasn't sure if he would thank them or attack them when he did. He made a whimpering, confused sound when he saw Beryllium, another one, walking toward him. Her eyes were wide and mouth turned down in a frown, and there was a pistol clutched tight in her grip, aimed steadily at the body by his feet.

Once she was certain it was really dead, Beryl tucked the gun into the back of her pants and knelt by the body. "Are you okay?" she asked, glancing up at her brother as she grabbed the gun from the dead woman's hands. She removed its belt, checking the extra ammo and combat knife attached to it before clipping it around her own waist. She then stood and kicked the thing in its head for good measure before turning to her partner.

"Io," she said, trying to get his attention. His eyes were somewhat unfocused, and his mouth was hanging slightly open. "Io, are you hurt?" she asked, concern growing in her voice.

"I… I don't… what's…" Iodine stammered, shifting his feet uncertainly. He didn't know what was going on. He didn't know why there were two of her and why one had tried to kill him. He suddenly very much wanted to run away and find somewhere that made sense again.

He only realized he was hyperventilating when Beryl reached out and grabbed the sides of his face, forcing him to focus on her.

"Io, calm down," she said slowly. "This is me, okay? That other one was a fake. She would have killed you if I hadn't stopped her. Do you understand?"

"You're not dead?" Iodine asked, voice still a panicked whisper.

"No, I'm not dead," she confirmed.

"And you don't want me dead?" he checked.

"Never," Beryl promised. She smiled a bit, showing some of her relief at finding her partner alive. "You okay now?"

Iodine nodded before surging forward. He grabbed his sister in a tight hug, muffling a choked sob in her shoulder.

"It's okay," Beryl said, rubbing at his back soothingly. She allowed herself to enjoy the relief of being together again for a moment before turning serious. "Iodine, we're alright, but we can't stay here."

The boy nodded, sniffling a bit as he backed away. Beryl gave him one last encouraging smile and squeezed his shoulder before handing him the copy's gun. She waited until he'd curled his fingers around the handle before releasing it and drawing her own.

"Come on," she said, leading him back down the hall he'd first come from. As they jogged through the base she explained about the copies she'd already run into and how to tell them apart from their own siblings.

As she finished the explanation they rounded a corner toward the hangar. Iodine froze in his tracks as Beryllium aimed her gun. Standing before them were two copies, one looking like an adult version of Tungsten while the other was nearly identical to Iodine. Both were trying to drag a screaming, kicking figure out of a lab and into the hall.

Beryl acted first, rushing forward and pressing the barrel of her gun to the back of the fake Tungsten's head. Iodine seemed to snap out of his spell when she pulled the trigger, the noise spurring him to action. He ran forward with an angry snarl and tried to mimic Beryl's maneuver with his own copy. He wasn't fast enough, though. The first gunshot had alerted the copy to their presence and it spun to face him before he had a chance to fire.

Iodine went down with a shout, pushed over by a bigger and stronger version of himself. The copy followed him down readily, wrapping its fingers around his throat and squeezing without hesitation. Iodine panicked, flailing and firing his gun without thought. The bullet shot into the lab and lodged in a complex explosive the copies had placed there.

Iodine didn't consciously register the explosion. He just felt intense heat on his left side, a concussive force like he'd been punched by a planet, and felt an intense ringing in his ears.

He also felt the copy's hands, still tight around his throat, keeping him from breathing. He knew he should try to stop it, though in his stunned state he couldn't think of how he would go about that or why it was even necessary. It was too hard to think about that, anyway, with so much pain beginning to spread through his side. He found it quite easy to forget about air or oxygen like this.

Iodine's vision was just starting to blur when Beryl and Nitrogen, the boy the copies had been attacking, pulled his attacker off of him.

The copy tore out of their grip and ran before they could stop it. Beryl fought the urge to chase after it, instead kneeling by her partner's side.

"You idiot," she muttered, brushing some hair away from his eyes as she inspected his arm where the worst of the burns were.

Iodine tried to answer, but it came out as a croaking cough.

"Hush," she chastised, tapping a finger to his lips to silence him. "Just hold still. I've got you." She traced her fingers over his throat carefully. It was definitely bruised, already darkening to a deep purple. She knew it would be soar for a while, but it didn't look like there was any permanent damage. She then moved back to the burns which, while painful, didn't look deep enough to pose any danger.

Beryl breathed a sigh of relief when she finished the inspection. "You're gonna be fine," she promised, sending her partner a brief smile. Her eyes then turned to the smoke pouring out of the blown-out room.

"Help me," she ordered, motioning for Nitrogen to grab Iodine's gun while she lifted him across her shoulders. Iodine whined in pain at the jostling.

"Sorry, Io," Beryl murmured. "It'll be better soon," she promised. She would get Rhodi to give him something for the pain. It would be fine. She then told Nitrogen to lead the way to the hangar, trusting him to deal with any copies they might run into while she carried her partner.

"Tried to help," Iodine muttered, sounding pouty around the obvious pained strain in his voice.

"You did," Beryl assured him. "You did good, Io. Just relax now. Everything's going to be fine."


	7. Prequel

**Just a short prequel-esque scene from just after Dr. Han's betrayal. **

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"Silver?" Nick asked cautiously, having located his eldest sister after searching for nearly an hour. "Sil? You know, we could really use your help with the others. They need their leader."

"Do you remember how many times our siblings tried to run away?" Silver asked hollowly.

Nick shook his head. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's important," she insisted. "It's important because they knew. Sometimes they knew it was wrong for us to be forced to fight without any choice, sometimes they could sense something was off with mom. The point is, every couple of years, a group of us would decide to run. They'd make plans and they'd be ready to go the moment they got the chance. And do you know who stopped them?"

"Sil," Nick said gently, an unspoken plea for his older sister to not beat herself up like this.

"I did," she continued. "Every time any of us wanted to leave, I always found out and I always stopped them. I always talked to them and convinced them to stay. I convinced them of how important we were, how noble our cause was, how we should feel honored that we would be able to fight for humanity." She laughed, a short, humorless noise, before continuing. "I convinced them to stay because I… I believed in her. I trusted mom and I believed that she knew what was best for us. Even when we couldn't see it, even when it didn't make any sense to us, I always believed she had our backs. I believed she loved us."

She fell quiet for a moment, hating how naïve she'd been; how much blind faith she'd given to someone who'd never earned it.

"How can you ask me to lead them now?" she finally asked. "They had so many opportunities to escape this fate. I'm the one who forced them to stay, who made them get caught in this trap. I can't lead them. I can't even face them. Now when I'm the one who killed them."

"Enough!" Nick snapped. "I don't care how guilty you feel, Sil. Don't you dare talk about them like they're dead! Some of us have died but the rest are still here. We aren't dead yet and I don't plan to let us be any time soon." He folded his arms and frowned down at her. "You know why you have to be their leader? Because you're the only one who can. It's the same reason you stopped us from running so many times. We all trust you, Sil. We know you were tricked as much as we were. We know you'd never willingly hurt us. We all know it and it's why we need you now more than ever. We need to believe we can still trust someone."

He unfolded his arms again and reached down, offering her a hand wrinkled beyond his age. "Are you going to be there for us or not?"

Silver stared up at him for a moment. She still didn't think she could do it. She didn't trust her own judgment anymore. But her family needed her, at the very least as a figure head. They needed someone to believe in, to give themselves hope. She decided then that she'd come up with a plan later. For the moment, she'd just do her best to keep them together, and to keep them brave. She'd be the leader they needed.

She reached up and took her brother's hand.


End file.
